What is the difference between a mission, vision, and values?

Updated: June 20, 2023

Employees are often confused about mission, vision, and value statements. Here are just a few of the questions I'm frequently asked:

• What's the difference?

• What are they for?

• Do we even need them all?

These questions came up a lot while I was doing research for The Service Culture Handbook. They’ve also come up while training thousands of employees on mission, vision, and values.

Here's an explanation of the three concepts along how other statements fit in.

What are a company’s mission, vision, and values?

An organization's mission, vision, and values help communicate something about the culture to employees. They should help guide each employees’ daily work and decision-making.

You can understand the difference by thinking what, why, and how.

• Mission: What the company does.

• Vision: Why the company does it.

• Values: How the companies does it.

Here’s a video explainer:

What is a mission statement?

A mission statement broadly describes what the organization does. They can range from specific to broad. Some are only truly understood by employees.

Clio, a company that makes legal practice management software, has a fairly descriptive mission statement:

Osprey, a company that makes backpacks and other equipment to help people enjoy the outdoors, has a more abstract mission:

Despite taking different approaches, both mission statements succinctly tell employees what the organization does. These short, simple statements make it easier for employees to use the mission to guide their daily work.

What is a vision statement?

A vision statement describes why an organization exists. It often refers to a larger goal the company is relentlessly pursuing.

TriMet operates the public transportation system in Portland, Oregon. It's vision statement reads:

Compared to mission statements and values, fewer organizations have a vision statement. That’s because the mission statement often speaks to the company's reason for existing.

For instance, the JetBlue Airways mission statement is "Inspire Humanity." The company describes this mission as the reason the airline was founded:

What is a purpose statement?

A purpose statement combines elements of a mission and vision into one single statement that broadly describe what the company does and why.

Purpose statements give employees one fewer statement to memorize. That can simplify things a bit and make the purpose easier to follow.

Target’s purpose statement abstractly describes what it does (sells goods for everyday life) and how it tries to do it (helping families discover joy).

Value Statements

An organization’s values describe how its employees do business. They serve as guidelines for the types of behaviors that should be promoted and encouraged.

Rackspace, a company that provides cloud-based computer networks, shares explanations for each of its five core values to provide more context:

• Excellence. We are an accountable, disciplined, high-performing company with proven results.

• Customer-driven. We are proactive, collaborative and committed to success for our customers.

• Expertise. Rackers are passionate learners who are embedded in our customers’ businesses to provide unbiased solutions.

• Agility. We adopt new technologies and evolve services to meet customers where they are in their journey.

• Compassion. We’re one team doing the right thing for our customers, communities and each other.

Some companies, like Squarespace, put their values in priority order:

1. Be the customer.

2. Design is not a luxury.

3. Build the ideal.

4. Learn fast, act fast.

5. Protect creativity.

6. Simplify.

Where do other statements fit in?

Companies often have a myriad of other statements on top of their mission, vision, and values. These include mottos, slogans, and brand promises.

An informal LinkedIn poll revealed that nearly half of organizations have four or more statements that are used to guide employee behavior. Having too many statements for employees to remember can get confusing.

Whenever possible, it helps to simplify.

Regular readers know I often refer to a company's customer service vision statement, which is a shared definition of outstanding service that gets everyone on the same page.

In customer-focused organizations, the mission does double duty as the customer service vision, eliminating the need for a separate statement.

For example, JetBlue's Inspire Humanity mission tells employees what the company does (albeit very abstractly) and how they should treat customers.

Many companies have a separate brand promise or marketing slogan. That's okay, as long as the external statements are still aligned with the company's mission, vision, or values.

The Armstrong Garden Centers brand promise is "Gardening without Guesswork." This is a succinct and very natural external version of the company's mission statement:

We strive to take the guesswork out of gardening by providing horticultural expertise, exceptional service, and the best quality plants and products. We are passionate gardeners cultivating a welcoming environment for all to learn and be inspired.

Conclusion

Fewer statements are better than more statements. Simplify whenever possible. You want to provide clarity, not confusion.

Do you need help writing a mission, vision, or values? Here are some resources to help:

1. Write your mission: My free step-by-step guide

2. Build a service culture: The Service Culture Handbook

Does Your Company Have Too Many Missions and Visions?

The vice president shared a draft of her company's new values project.

She had been working with two other executives to create them. They had come up with nine after several brainstorming sessions.

On paper, they looked good. These were solid, reasonable values that were all straight out of the corporate values catalog. Nothing controversial. 

There were two problems. 

The first issue was the company already had a lot of cultural artifacts. A cultural artifact is something that helps people understand your organization's culture, like a mission, vision, or set of values. 

This company already had a lot:

• Mission statement

• Service promise

• Service motto

• Brand tagline

Now, they were planning to introduce a new set of values on top of everything else. Which led to the second problem.

Some of those nine values weren't accurate. Communication was number three on the list. "Oh, we suck at communication!" said the vice president.

Perhaps you face a similar mess. Here's how you can untangle it.

Focus vs. Confusion

Companies' cultural artifacts frequently feel empty because organizations often have too many or the existing ones are inauthentic.

In the rush to create another tagline, motto, or corporate vision, nobody takes the time to decide what one statement is the most important or ensure all the artifacts are in alignment.

If everything is important, then nothing is important.

In The Service Culture Handbook, I related the story of a restaurant chain I worked with that had too many cultural artifacts.

It had a mission statement, a brand promise, a set of four service promises, and a list of 17 service standards that waitstaff were expected to follow with every guest.

Employees weren't quite sure which was most important. 

This was especially challenging since some of these cultural artifacts didn't clearly support each other. For instance, the mission statement described a desire to create amazing experiences while the service standards emphasized up-selling and efficiency.

At an executive retreat, I posed the question to the CEO, his executive team, and the general managers of each individual restaurant: which cultural artifact is most important?

There initially wasn't a consensus, but it led to a good discussion. The group finally agreed that the mission statement should be the primary guide for the employees. 

Next, they decided to rethink their existing cultural artifacts. Some were eliminated while others were simplified and aligned with the mission. The 17 service standards were slimmed down to 10. 

The restaurant chain's leadership team then communicated the revised artifacts to employees with a renewed emphasis on the mission.

Not surprisingly, service quality improved once employees had a consistent understanding of what outstanding service should be.

Where a Customer Service Vision Fits In

In customer-focused companies, the most important cultural artifact is a customer service vision.

A customer service vision is a shared definition of outstanding service that guides all employees' actions when it comes to serving customers.

What if your company already has some pretty important artifacts?

When my clients face this challenge, I usually suggest two options. Option one is to make one of your existing artifacts do double-duty as the customer service vision.

In many companies, the organization's mission, vision, or values is also the customer service vision. There's no need to add yet another statement to the mix!

For example, take a look at REI's mission statement:

At REI, we inspire, educate and outfit for a lifetime of outdoor adventure and stewardship.

This is why the company exists (hence, the mission), but it also paints a clear picture of what type of service employees should strive to provide. Go visit an REI location today and you'll almost certainly find enthusiastic retail associates who will try to help you enjoy the outdoors!

In some cases, none of my clients' existing cultural artifacts are particularly inspiring. (They decide this, not me.) That's when I suggest a second option: replace one of your existing artifacts with the new vision.

I recently helped a client do this and it was amazing how much the new vision energized employees.

Take the Three Question Test

Here's an easy way to tell if a cultural artifact is actually relevant.

Select one of your cultural artifacts (mission, vision, values, motto, tagline, etc.). Talk to a random sample of employees and ask them three questions about that artifact:

1. What is it?

2. What does it mean?

3. How does it guide the work that you do?

You can tell the artifact has virtually no meaning if employees aren't aware of it or can't give consistent or clear answers to those questions.

In customer-focused companies, every employee can give a consistent answer to the three questions when asked about the customer service vision.

You can learn more about customer service visions and how to create one here.

How to Tell if Your Mission Has Lost Its Meaning

Raise your hand if your company has a mission statement.

Most companies have one. Yours probably does. Mine does. But have you ever wondered what purpose the mission actually serves?

You could go with the stock answer here. "The mission tells everyone why the company exists." Ok, let's test that. See if you can answer three questions about your company's mission statement:

1. What is it?

2. What does it mean?

3. How do you contribute?

Nobody's listening to that voice inside your head, so you can be honest. Did you struggle to come up with a quick answer to those three questions? If so, your mission isn't fulfilling it's purpose.

Now, go ask your employees the same three questions and see if you get consistent answers. If you get a lot of blank looks or wildly different responses, your mission has lost its meaning.

How the Mission Drives Service Quality

I'm taking some liberty with terminology here, so let me take a moment to clarify.

Elite organizations have created a shared definition of outstanding customer service that all employees understand. I call this a customer service vision.

This customer service vision can be a stand alone statement, but often it does double duty as a company's mission, vision, values, or customer service standards. Most, but not all, elite organizations use their mission statement to define outstanding service for their employees.

So a clear mission can give employees guidance in their daily activities. Here are just a few benefits:

• It provides a sense of purpose when they come to work.

• It acts as a compass to point in the right direction in moments of uncertainty.

• It reinforces what employees should be doing to serve customers.

For example, JetBlue has led J.D. Power's North American Airline rankings for 12 consecutive years. A lot of their success comes from using their mission statement, Inspire Humanity, as a shared definition of outstanding service.

Every JetBlue crewmember (i.e. employee) knows his or her job is to bring a human touch to service. In an age of self-service and automation, humanity is sorely needed.

JetBlue is one of the outstanding companies profiled in my new book, The Service Culture Handbook. It's due out in April, 2017, but you can download Chapter One when you sign-up for updates.

Why Employees Don't Know the Mission

There are three common reasons why employees don't know or understand the mission.

1. It's never mentioned. The mission is almost never openly discussed.

2. It's not trained. Employees receive no instruction on what it means or how to live it.

3. It's not a priority. Employees are overloaded with too many statements like a mission, vision, values, credo, slogan, brand promise, customer service standards, etc. that create confusion about what's important.

That last one really stands out. Employees won't know or understand the mission unless you make it a priority. That challenge here is many leaders fall into the multiple priorities trap.

The Know Your Mission Challenge

Back to those three questions.

You can restore your mission (or customer service vision) to relevance if you can provide the training and coaching necessary to help each employee give a consistent answer to these three questions:

1. What is it?

2. What does it mean?

3. How do I contribute?

Are you up to the challenge?

Defining Your Customer Can Be Complicated

Identifying your customer is fairly straightforward in some businesses.

Let’s say you own a restaurant. Your guests would be your customer. You might also include vendors and employees as customers under part two of the definition. But there’s no confusion that guests are your ultimate customer.

It gets more complicated in other organizations.

The nonprofit Goodwill has three major customers. The people who donate clothing and other items, the people who shop in their thrift stores, and the people who receive jobs and job training.

Organizations like this have to decide how to manage the needs of their different customers. This is especially true when there's an apparent conflict or limited resources. 

There could be trouble if you choose poorly.

Who is a customer?

The definition of a customer is broad. Here’s the traditional definition from Dictionary.com:

Customer (noun)

1. a person who purchases goods or services from another.

2. Informal. a person one has to deal with.

I prefer an even broader definition:

A customer is anyone you serve.

This could represent a wide range of people you encounter in your job.

• People who purchases goods or services from your company.

• Coworkers who depend on you to do their jobs.

• Vendors who rely on you to serve your customers.

For example, imagine you work in customer service department for a furniture store. The people who buy furniture are clearly customers. Some customers elect to pick up their purchases from your company’s warehouse, which makes the warehouse employees your customer since they depend on you to properly inform customers on pickup procedures and availability. Other customers opt to have their furniture delivered, which makes the third-party delivery company your customers as well since they depend on you to accurately schedule deliveries and set reasonable expectations on the service they provide.

Franchisees are forgotten customers

Companies in fast food, retail, and other industries that sell franchises have a customer who is often overlooked, but extremely important: the franchise owner.

McDonald’s has long had a reputation for poor customer service. I once wrote a post detailing how their problems boil down to three areas:

• Lack of focus

• Lack of quality

• Lack of control

It’s that last part that’s starting to bite them.

Franchisees operate over 90 percent of McDonald’s locations. That means most of McDonald’s customers aren’t actually served by a McDonald’s employee. 

The franchisees aren’t too happy. A recent article on Slate described McDonald’s relationship with its franchise owners as “the bleakest it’s been.”

Rent has increased an average of 26 percent over the past five years. Meanwhile, year over year same store sales are down 4.2 percent.

Now McDonald’s wants its franchise owners to invest an estimated $120,000 to $160,000 in it’s new Create Your Taste initiative. The Create Your Taste program is designed to allow people to customize the burger they order using an interactive kiosk.

Many franchise owners resent the additional investment. It will take a significant chunk out of short-term profits while making operations even more complicated.

McDonald’s can’t turn around it’s fortunes unless it improves it’s relationship with franchisees.

Customer definitions are tricky

Many industries have complicated customer relationships.

Hotels are a good example. In a typical hotel, one company owns the building, another company owns the brand, and a third company manages the hotel. 

Let’s say the property is getting a bit old and needs some upgrades. The brand might dictate the type of upgrades that need to be made. The building owner has to find a way to pay for the upgrades. And the management company has to keep guests happy until they all can sort things out. 

That’s are a lot of interests to manage.

Insurance is another example. Many companies have independent brokers who sell and service their policies. They must keep these brokers happy to ensure policy holders receive great service. At the same time, insurance companies must keep tabs on their brokers to ensure they’re representing the company fairly and accurately.

It’s enough to give you a headache if you aren’t paying careful attention.

Take Action

Here are two exercises to help you identify your customers, and improve your customer focus. The first is to make a list of the groups of people you serve, and the service you provide to each one.

This short training video will walk you through the process.

Identify your customers from Customer Service Foundations by Jeff Toister

The second exercise is to create a customer-focused mission or vision. This could be your organization’s mission or vision statement, or a separate statement that clearly identifies your primary customer and the service you provide.

Take a look at Goodwill’s mission as an example:

Goodwill works to enhance the dignity and quality of life of individuals and families by strengthening communities, eliminating barriers to opportunity, and helping people in need reach their full potential through learning and the power of work.

Donors are important customer, but only to the extent that they help fulfill the mission. If a donation isn’t ultimately helping people reach their full potential through learning and the power of work, Goodwill doesn’t want it.

Let’s look at State Farm’s mission for a for-profit example:

The State Farm mission is to help people manage the risks of everyday life, recover from the unexpected, and realize their dreams.

I can tell you from experience that State Farm and their independent agents are aligned around the same mission. In 2001, I traveled to Houston to help my in-laws recover from a flood. My father-in-law's truck had been completely submerged in water and was totaled. His State Farm agent showed up the next day with a check in hand so my father-in-law could buy a replacement.

It required coordination between State Farm and it’s agents to make the same thing happen for hundreds if not thousands of customers who were similarly affected.

Meanwhile, people in the neighborhood who had other insurance companies waited days for their insurance company to lend a hand.